2
benevolent lodges. Of the free schools maintained by the Hebrews, five
are in New York, four in Philadelphia, and one each in Cincinnati, St.
Louis, Chicago, and San Francisco. Their hospitals are in New York,
Philadelphia, Baltimore, Cincinnati, New Orleans, and Chicago, while
their orphan asylums, homes, and other benevolent institutions are
scattered all over the country.

* * * * *

THE MYSTERIES OF THE BAIKAL.

The Angara is cold as ice all the summer through, so cold, indeed, that
to bathe in it is to court inevitable illness, and in winter a sled
drive over its frozen surface is made in a temperature some degrees
lower than that prevailing on the banks. This comes from the fact that
its waters are fresh from the yet unfathomed depths of the Baikal, which
during the five short months of summer has scarcely time to properly
unfreeze. In winter the lake resembles in all respects a miniature
Arctic Ocean, having its great ice hummocks and immense leads, over
which